good morning. i'm chris janesing. mitt romney pulled dead even with president obama in the very latest gallup tracking poll. before the debate, the president was up by five. >> we had a little debate earlier this week and i enjoyed myself. >> the romney campaign is making adjustments trying to keep the momentum going and move the elect rat in the swing states where it counts. nest hour, he'll be giving a major foreign policy speech and then later in the day campaigning in newport news. >> the chief is preparing for a co comeback and joking about the last performance. >> everybody here incredible professionals, such great friends and they just perform

flawlessly. night after night. i can't always say the same. >> i want to bring in perry bacon and robert costa. good morning, guys. >> good morning, chris. >> good morning. >> so, what do you think? does this poll give the obama campaign something to worry about? what do you think, perry? >> i think the debate performance gave them something to worry about. you have seen democrats very strongly critical of his debate performance. the poll itself shows the race tightening. that's no question the race from about four points to two points. that said, the president's still leads and i'll be curious to see the swing state polls because the swing states tell us who's going to within the election. >> not just the swing state but what these polls, what this poll doesn't show and we have a much better sense of it tomorrow whether the jobs numbers on

friday moved people back in the president's direction. is this in a way about which side capitalizes better on in romney's case the debate in the president's case, the job numbers? >> i think that's a great point, chris. i think a lot of jobs data is baked in to the president's approval rating and really important now to close the gap for either candidate. you have a town hall debate coming up for president obama and mitt romney. i think that may be a good format for president since he's good at engaging with people. >> what people are saying and particularly on the trail with mitt romney is they see him energized an a different mitt romney since that debate performance. showing the compassionate side and showing that touing video of him, at campaign stops and didn't air in prime time with the empty chair and telling more stories like this. >> there's billy holt. he came to my event.

touched my heart to see him there. pushed the wheelchair forward and he came up and i put my arm on his shoulder and whispered in his ear. i said, billy, i love you and god bless you. i got a call that he died the next day. >> perry, this is something that the campaign always said that mitt romney was not comfortable talking about. these kinds of very personal things but is it effective? >> i thought in the debate it was very effective when he personalized things and talked about families he met and people he met an dong it on the road now, too. i think that's smart. voters throughout the campaign -- polls have shown voters find obama more likable person and in the next two debates romney's going to maintain that and increase the likability. they're voting for someone to hear speak for four years and he has to close the gap to win the

election. >> people that support the president saying on style and substance we see a different man going after the new mitt romney and surrogates pointing it out, working it in to the stump speech. take a listen. >> now, my opponent is doing a little tap dance at the debate the other night. trying to wriggle out of stuff he's been saying for a year. doing like a -- it was like "dancing with the stars." more maybe it was "extreme makeover." debate edition. >> robert, is that effective? >> i'm not so sure it's effective, chris. a biggest appeal factor is does seem presidential and likable like perry said but getting too personal in the attacks and petty sounding in the rhetoric, he risks maybe alienating independent voters that like the presidential appeal and like his

likability and what you see mitt romney maybe doing is going in the debate at the record and not the president's style. >> let's bring in the chairman of the rnc. welcome back. >> hey, thank you for having me. >> you were busy yesterday but maybe you saw some of the guys on the other side on the sunday shows. let's play for you a couple of clips of robert gibbs and david axelr axelrod. here they are. >> mitt romney says anything to get elected and you have to wonder what they say when they're president of the united states. >> so, yes. i'm saying that he was dishonest. >> would you say he lied in. >> well, i'm saying that he was dishonest in the answers. you can characterize that any way you want. >> did mitt romney change his positions for that debate? >> you know, this has been the oddest few days, you know, narrative coming out of the democrats, the fact that somehow mitt romney changed what he's been saying for the debate. you know, and the other thing is i find it so childish that if

you can't -- if barack obama couldn't find it in himself to call out barack obama on the table and come up with the one liners and the attack lines then, you know, it kind of goes to show you that he didn't bring the a-game to the debate. >> if those two different questions -- >> i'm going to call him a liar now. no. talking about the tax plans at the rallies. he was saying the same things on wednesday night and the other piece about how -- >> let me stop you there. i want to read to you if i can about a fact check about the tax. not cutting taxes for the wealthy. in the primary, cut taxes for everyone including the top 1%. suspect that a change? >> no, it's not. he's been saying the entire time that while he would be in favor of an across the board tax c of 25% for every taxpayer, those

making over a certain amount of money he would close tax loopholes so their overall taxes that they pay and the overall tax plan would be tax neutral. i mean, it would be revenue neutral. the other piece is you mentioned this other story -- >> the story is specifics, hasn't it? >> i'll keep going back to this to seep the record straight. you all talking about this story that mitt romney had been saying and reported in other places that this is a new softer side of mitt romney. he's been telling that story for months. and so, i mean, this is all just sort of a generated media narrative that he is coming up with all sorts of new policies and new touching stories. this is, you know, what's great about last week is it's our opportunity to present an unfiltered mitt romney versus an unfiltered barack obama and the choice was houistorically.

>> let's ask you then about specifically what the panelist talked about, the thing that a lot of analysts are watching is are the polls going to move in the swing states? it is early to tell. the jobs numbers may factor in to this. can mitt romney move the polls in a place like ohio? where before the debate, our nbc news maris poll showed the president up eight in a state where president obama's message seems to be the jobs numbers. that's working. improving car sales. car sales up. stock market up. does he have to win, for example, ohio? mitt romney, to win the presidency. can he move the number there is? >> well, i think on an overall question, i would agree with all of you that this is going to be an incredibly close election. i thought that the polls were closing before the debate. the debate certainly helped close them even further. i think you are going to see this come down to a ground game, the traditional door to door

person by person ground game. as far as whether you can win without ohio, you know, i think you can. i think obviously doing well out west and colorado and nevada. >> but extremely, extremely difficult, yes? >> well, certainly. of course, it makes it tougher but i think if you look at the polls as of late in ohio they tighten. i don't think this -- i don't think anyone believes on either side this is not going to be the very, very tight race and every single battleground state and across america. i can concede that. >> i don't want to let you go without what happens next. we moe what's happening next. that's the vice presidential debate. usually discounted, people don't pay a lot of attention but given what happened last week, there are a lot of headlines today that are saying that this debate is important. do you expect joe biden to come out swinging? >> i do. i mean, i think -- first of all, i think he's a pretty good debater. doing it for a long time.

he's relatible, quick on his feet and likable. >> you're not playing the expectations game, are you? >> no, i just -- no. i think it's silly of us to discount joe biden making gaffes as of late. but what i would say is i think it's important. i think joe biden will come out and try to make up ground for barack obama and we'll see how it plays out. paul's a smart guy and will do well. >> good to have you on the program. thanks so much. >> thanks, chris. speaking of debate, gentlemen, i have a clip of "saturday night live" i have to play. watch. >> is there anything more exciting than joe biden thinking it's up to him to get the lead back? it's tivo time. a 50% chance he'll come out with the shirt off. probably covering himself with animal fat to make himself harder to grab. >> i watched that like four

times over the week. kept playing it back and forth and back and forth. i thought it was so hilarious. what do you think? is the headlines right? does the vice presidential debate come very important? >> i think it is really important. you saw david axelrod, robert gibbs, democrats saying essentially mitt romney lied during the debate. now you handed joe biden that. you need to prosecute that against paul ryan. that's pressure on biden. a big moment. also, you have to imagine that the debate moderator pressing paul ryan more on the debates on the tax plan. this debate will matter more than the vp debate mattered in the past. >> to be serious, a lot of economic policies being put forth come from paul ryan so does it become more sense in the sense of the overall approach of both of the teams?

>> that's a great point. paul ryan was tapped not because he was a popular congressman in the house but been for the past few years the intellectual leader of the republican party so his challenge not only to go up against biden's populace touch but an economic vision for the country while also debating biden. >> well, expectations game played a little bit. i'll give you a quick opportunity. what do you think, robert in who's the advantage to in this debate? >> i think if biden survives with a smile and amble, he'll do well. ryan has to seem like he's smart and presidential. >> perry? >> i think the advantage to biden doing this so many times before. in '08 and more experienced political figure. >> perry, robert, we shall see. it's very interesting. thank you, gentlemen. good to see you both. >> thank you. despite a surge in street crime and oil production down

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mitt romney in little more than an hour will deliver a major foreign policy address in virginia attacking the president as a weak leader. the obama campaign is already out with a new ad painting the governor's latest foreign policy steps as stumbles. >> i'm barack obama and i approved this message. >> reckless. amateurish. that's what news media and fellow republicans called mitt romney's gaffe-filled july tour of england, israel and poland.

when the u.s. diplomats were attacked, the "the new york times" showed it lack of presidential character. >> robin swrigt a senior fellow at the woodrow wilson international center. good morning. >> good morning, chris. >> let's start with the broad strokes. we have all been told this is an economy election but the foreign policy discussions have really been bubbling given when's going on in the middle east and africa. another way that governor romney sets a presidential tone, what should we expect today? >> well, i suspect that candidate will talk in broad strokes. he's already indicated that he wants to challenge the president on what happened in lib why and whether there was enough security. he's made clear he's using tough language against rush why and china and he is talked about the economic problems in europe, as well. the problem for mitt romney is that in many cases it's not just

what happened during his trip to europe and the middle east. it's really the reaction and some of the gaffes he's made on foreign policy. in referring to spain, for example, as overspending as the source of the problem when in fact it was the property bubble. germany and scandinavian countries spend more than the spanish have. we misunderstood that problem. he's annoyed the british over security and alienated the russians talking about toughening the stand and henry kissinger of foreign policy has condemned both candidates for a deplorable policy on china. so, foreign policy's not going to decide the election but a burning issue to define whoever wins this election. >> it is in the news a lot. so people who are paying close attention looking to see where these two men stand. let's talk, for example,

benjamin netanyahu informing the relationship, friendship with netanyahu informing the foreign policy and a thing to talk about is iran. tough talk. he thinks there can be even tougher sanctions. put that in to some context for us. >> well, in fact, the two men talk a little bit differently but their policies mirror each other. the fact is they both talked about keeping the military option on the table. and they have both talked about tougher sanctions. obama administration is moving, coordinating with the europeans on tougher sanctions against iran. even as it leaves the door open to diplomacy. i'm not sure what mitt romney can do to except escalate the military option that would differentiate, be that different than what the obama administration has done. >> we also hear that in this speech today he'll emphasize the solution of a two-state solution and when we saw that videotape of a fund-raiser earlier this year, he dismissed that.

how important is that in the big picture of foreign policy? >> well, at the moment, the peace process is dead and both men also talk about a two-state solution so again i'm not sure that it's one that will really differentiate the candidates. but it is true that mitt romney has a much stronger relationship with the prime minister of israel and there's almost open hostility between president obama and benjamin netanyahu. >> it does seem that often in campaigns that we talk about the lack of foreign policy experience for many of these candidates and the fact that unless you're someone who has served for a long time, for example, in the senate and you're on the, you know, foreign policy committee or something that that's not unusual. but we also look to who they look to for advice and today's "the new york times" david sanger talks about riffs in romney's foreign policy team. how important is it to look at the people who surround a candidate, especially a

candidate like mitt romney who's not dealt in serious foreign policy issues either as governor or as a businessman? >> tremendously important and one of the reasons barack obama selected joe biden as his running mate is because of joe biden's strong experience in foreign policy and barack obama's relative inexperience. mitt romney has two camps basically advising him. one a very important includes many of the neo-conservatives active in the bush administration. john boulton, dan senor and former deputy secretary of state and he's a man who's considered in the realist camp and there is an open rift and tremendous ri important to try to understand which camp is likely to shape romney's foreign policy if that's a criteria for the american voter. >> again, the speech expected just about one hour from now.

robin wright, thanks. good to have you on the program. >> thank you. it looks like mitt romney may be doing well in early voting in two battleground states. according to florida and north carolina, republican voters are outnumbering democrats by more than 20 points. in iowa, though, democrats outnumber the republicans by more than 40 points. early voting under way now in more than 30 states. [ male announcer ] eligible for medicare? that's a good thing,

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to politics now where big bird made an appearance on "saturday night live" after mitt romney said he'd get rid of funding for pbs. >> how did you find out your name mentioned in the debate? >> oh, i got a million tweets. >> oh, why. >> you're on twitter? >> no. i'm a bird. tweeting is how we talk. >> before you go, do you have any political statement you'd like to make? >> no. i don't want to ruffle any

feathers. >> another debate this weekend, rumble in the air conditioned auditori auditorium. stewart and o'reilly. so popular, the services to watch it online were overloaded. >> what advice would you give congress? >> wait, wait, wait. wait. and what would you like for christmas, little boy? >> see, i could have lived my whole life without seeing that. if you read only one thing this morning in this era of ever-increasing college costs and debt, the must read, a list of college majors of 2012 to get you the lowest-paying jobs. it's up on the facebook page. two years ago, the people of bp made a commitment to the gulf.

bp has paid over twenty-three billion dollars to help those affected and to cover cleanup costs. today, the beaches and gulf are open, and many areas are reporting their best tourism seasons in years. and bp's also committed to america. we support nearly 250,000 jobs and invest more here than anywhere else. we're working to fuel america for generations to come. our commitment has never been stronger. obama campaign armed with

new ammunition to counter mitt romney's post-debate bounce. they raked in $181 million. the romney campaign hasn't released the numbers but you will see more ads in coming weeks, like this back an forth on tax plans. >> why was romney so dishonest about his plan? the new massive tax cut for millionaires is more taxes on the middle class. america doesn't need a poll sirn that plays one. >> distorting the economic plan. the latest? not telling the truth about mitt romney's tax plan. the a.p. says doesn't add up. even the obama campaign admitted it wasn't true. >> stipulated. it won't be near a trillion dollars. >> let's bring in byron dorgan

and david winston. good morning. >> good morning. >> good morning. >> senator, i watch the ads and first thing that comes to mind and you would think i'd be immune but those are tough. do you think they help either side or just turn voters off? >> well, i don't know. this ad war is relentless, expensive. they're 30-second bombshells. all of us heard candidate romney talk about a 20% cut in all tax rates, a 20% cut. you know? we're swimming in debt. you know, so he says now, well that's not really a 20% cut but a revenue neutral tax. doesn't make sense and hard to pin down a guy that doesn't have core beliefs. >> david, what a lot of voters do, undecided voters, they say, well, who am i supposed to believe here? >> yeah, no. that's clearly what the debate did and i would suggest this is one of the reasons why you see governor romney improve in terms of polls is got the discussion

back on the economy and the central issues of taxes and seeing clearly both sides have a different view in terms of what the governor proposing. watching that play out and ultimately i would suggest this is a good conversation for governor romney to be involved in. >> let me just make the point that, you know, governor romney pays a 14% income tax rate which is less than most working families pay in this country and ought to be the first question to him. if we all believe and i think we should that we need to reform the tax code the demonstration of that is the fact there's wealthy man that pays a 14% tax rate, much less than most americans. >> we didn't hear that from the president and one of the reasons even democrats obviously very concerned about the debate performance. but david, an obama fund-raiser in new york summed it up this way. the jobs numbers and the campaign-finance numbers which

we just saw will take democrats out of group therapy and keep them focused on the urgent task ahead of re-elected the president. is he right? do they balance each other out? >> well, it's sbresing to use that phrase. clearly, there's consternation on the democratic side after the debate performance. i have to say i don't expect him to perform like that at the next debate. that was an example of him being one question deep after four years of being in the white house. but look. the jobs numbers just good for the country. below 8%. but the question is, do people feel there's a real recovery on the way and with economic growth as pathetic as it's been people are assessing and you have had surveys since the numbers were released and seen the governor pull even with the president and right now it's a toss-up race. >> one of the things i saw like over the weekend if you're watching football, there were a lot -- at least here in new york, a lot of obama campaign ads. and the romney super-pacs have a

money advantage but outside groups pay more for tv ads than candidates. president obama and his allies spent $45 million for 93,000 spots while almost the same amount of money only bought romney and allies 69,000 spots. how significant, senator, could that be, especially in these crucial remaining weeks? >> well, there's a difference in the cost of spots bought by a candidate or a super-pac. we have not talked about it but what's going on is disgusting and shameful. this is a money pit in which the -- some very, very wealthy people have -- billionaires trying to buy a government. first time in history seeing the full flower of the supreme court decision in citizens united. it's disgusting and this country can't continue down this road. we have to find a way to fix that and repair the damage done by the citizens united decision

from the supreme court. >> when we do the postmortem, david, do you think we'll say that ads made a difference, super-pac money made the difference? >> money is a resource and not an outcome. it's what you say and do with it. races of candidates with a ton of money and nothing to say with the money and so i think that ultimately campaigns have got to figure out what's the compelling reason that the candidate should be elected. the amount of money is a result of the campaign reform bill and the associated decisions after that. you have a situation where i would suggest that candidate voice has been diminished of super-pacs. you hear more from the super-pacs than the candidates themselves. >> one of the things that both of these candidates have said is they feel like they have to spend too much time fund raising and senator dorgan, the president in california today, yesterday. five fund-raisers for $10

million but this close to an election, would that time do you think be better spent on the campaign trail in a battle ground state? >> i think all candidates sooner be on the trail an the fund raising trail. >> it's a choice they can make. >> i understand that but you need the money. you need the money to put the ads on television. let's make a final point here. i think the american people sensing things are better in this country. that's good news. i was here in the senate when president obama took over. we were in an unbelievable deep hole and i think things are beginning to improve. we have put some millions of new jobs out there in the last couple of years, three years so, you know, i think that's what's dispositive when people go to the election -- when they go to the polling booth i think they ask the question, are things better? yes, they are. slowly but surely. >> terrific conversation, gentlemen. thank you so much. >> thank you. >> thanks. also news this morning, gas prices in california record highs today.

third day in a row. overnight the average up a penny to $4.67 a gallon and the governor brown ordered regulators to allow winter blend gasoline sold earlier to increase the supply and lower prices by an estimated 15 to 20 cents a gallon. the number of people infected with a rare form of fun gal meningitis is going up. the cdc says 91 confirmed in 9 states. seven people died. the massachusetts pharmacy that makes the steroid linked to the outbreak issued a recall of all of its products on saturday. jerry sandusky will be sentenced tomorrow and the attorney says sandusky regrets not taking the stand at the trial. joe amendola says he's writing a statement to read at the hearing. he could get more than 218 years behind bars before he's eligible for parole. police are reviewing this tape to determine a cause of a brawl that broke out at a hotel between two wedding parties

yesterday. three people were arrested. and one of t uncle of one of the brides died of heart attacks. they were said to be intoxicated. police had to call for back-up twice. wow. black friday exposed. cnbc's michele caruso-cabrera is here. numbers crunched and turns out black friday isn't necessarily the best day for the best prices. >> speaking of brawls, chris, we see friday morning after thanksgiving, the people lined up. "wall street journal" wanted to know is it worth it to get the deals? they found out oftentimes no. two to six years worth of data, daily pricing on elmos, barbie dolls and et cetera and actually the best prices is often different time of the year. elmo plush toll, buy it in march and stuff it in the closet, best time to get it.

$11. black friday it's $18. if you want a samsung tv, the best time to buy it is in august. $678 compared to -- this is a huge price difference. black friday price more than $1,000. nearly $1,500. almost more than double, in fact. ugg classics. if you would like a pair of winter boots, the cheapest time is in the summertime in june at $93 versus $139 on black friday. because, of course, there's very little demand in june. >> at 100 degrees, you can't think about trying them on but fascinating stuff. i wish i could get myself to be less of a procrastinator. good luck on a deal to fly for the holidays. >> yeah, no. prices up another 2% to 3% to fly over the holidays compared to last year and that's because there are fewer seats to buy. there have been mergers due to the weak economy. actually, a lot of airlines reduced theumber of flights

period and can't get as many seats so the average thanksgiving price is $393, a gain of 3%. christmas, $430. a gain of 2% compared to last year. >> thank you so much. >> see you later. where you live might determine how much money you make according to 24/7 wall street. they rank the richest cities in america saying that the industry in each city determines the income. trenton, new jersey. four, oxnard and thousand oaks, california. next, stamford, connecticut. at two, san jose and santa clara, california. enough said about that. richest city is our nation's capital, the washington metro area. i have a cold, and i took nyquil,

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♪ [ male announcer ] the first look...is only the beginning. ♪ ♪ introducing a stunning work of technology. ♪ introducing the entirely new lexus es. and the first ever es hybrid. this is the pursuit of perfection. a poll commissioned by the conservative-leaning u.s. chamber of commerce shows linda mcmahon with a lead over

democratic congressman murphy in the battle for connecticut's senate seat but that is within the margin of error. yesterday, the two squared off for the first time in a sometimes testy debate. >> linda has a plan on the website but as we have learned a good part of that is just lifted word from word, paragraph by paragraph, from right wing republican sites in washington. >> shame on you. you have just accused of me plagarizing my plan. it's beneath a congressman who's sitting today in congress or anyone running for the united states senate. you know very well that my plan is my own. >> back with me to talk about the impact of women candidate this is election season, correspondent kelly wall wills and l ea goldman. good to see both of you back. thanks so much. >> good to be here. >> here's like the $6 million question and you think we might not be asking it in 2012 but we are.

linda mcmahon was tough in that debate. is there a fine line for a woman candidate getting tough? >> oh, absolutely. right? because we all know that. we see it even in the work world. a tough woman could be considered a name i won't say on your show. in 2010, last time linda mcmahon ran, a 60% unfavorable rating. right? turned that around. 30-point higher favorables than unfavorables. how did she do that? a softer image. she's having these coffees around the state living rooms and kitchens and women connecting with her in a way. woman to woman. it seems to be working. >> and this strategy, obviously, isn't coincidental. she lost women by 19 points in the last race. >> she knows how important the women voters are and got slaughtered in the last campaign on the world wrestling entertainment branding and how

anti-woman it seems and the image -- >> and the violence. >> it's there for everyone to see. she's now playing the, look, i know the issues you are going through as a mom, as the breadwinner or as the person who handles the household finances. i've been through a bankruptcy and switching the narrative to be less about the content and more look what i've done. i know how to budget. i know how tough times are. i went through a bankruptcy. all those finer points. >> she is among six republican women running for the senate compared to 12 democratic women. in the house, 116 women on the democratic side. 47 republicans. is there a good explain for that? >> studies have shown that democratic women do better with women voters and often they're on the issues of health care, on economy, on issues of choice. but again, it is not always the case and so i think what you will be seeing certainly in the linda mcmahon race is see even

senator gillibrand of new york, raising money for democratic candidates but she said, chris, i want more women in the senate period. because women work across party lines to get things done and having more women of both parties is a good thing and may be resonating with women across the country. >> a recent study showed that women have just about the same success rank running for congress as men have. and yet, even with these numbers, far fewer women are running, obviously, than men. and it does beg the question why. >> right. there's barriers to entry and there's certain bah pa parallels for women ceos and fundamental problems here, for example. it's not a well paying field. women can't afford to go in to. it's also difficult to unseat an incumbent. women, they're averse to -- it's not a pleasant business, the business of running for officer.

it expensive. it's not, you know, it's not the most appealing profession right now. and the fact of the matter is that politicians have low favorability ratings. this is not a stellar period for, you know, higher office. and, you know, so why aren't women running to it? frankly, a lot of men aren't also. >> studies shown women more likely to look at the negative campaigning than men as a reason not to get involved and when women run against men, men are more of the attention on the issues and women are getting it three times the coverage on issues like appearance or different things and hillary clinton and sarah palin can talk about the way portrayed in the media in that matter, as well. >> i had a women that does recruiting for women candidates sag women look at the intransigents in the congress and do i want to give up the life and maybe not be able to accomplish very much. i'd love for you to come back before the election and we'll continue the conversation. a lot more women candidates to

talk about. >> love it. >> kelly wallace and lea goldman, thank you both. >> thank you. >> thank you. today's tweet of the day with a picture of nbc as we gear up for mitt romney's speech in about half an hour at the virginia military institute, he writes, romney may be coming later but otherwise the routine continues at vmi. today is laundry day. we took ta and reimagined nearly everything in it? gave it greater horsepower and best in class 38 mpg highway... advanced headlights... and zero gravity seats? yeah, that would be cool. ♪ introducing the completely reimagined nissan altima. it's our most innovative altima ever. nissan. innovation that excites. ♪

controversy over the new school lunch law leaving kids hungry isn't going away. kids have been protesting which requires twice as many fruits and vegetables and limits protein and carbs. students in kansas paradyed the displeasure in this internet video. ♪ tonight we are hungry

♪ it could burn brighter >> and now political. a congressman of kansas co-sponsored legislation to repeal the rule saying, quote, students like these with parents and school administrators should be trusted to make their own decisions. with me, dr. nancy schniderman. >> social change is never easy. >> this is what they say. should be the calorie count. 850 calories high school, 700 middle school, 650 for elementary school. what they're saying is they eat it and i'm still hungry. does that make sense? >> yes. that's difference of being full and being really hungry. and these kids probably, because we all have gotten there, we overeat so we really don't have the switch so much in our brains anymore to tell when we're just

satiated and for the kids who really are jocks, that's nothing to preclude them from an afternoon snack. but the reality is, the school lunch has been pretty bad for a listening time. they have been out of to portion for what kids should have and if you look at 850 calories as a midday meal, and put lunch and dinner in between, guess what, doing just fine and none of them looked particularly skinny to me. >> a problem is one of the principals in "the new york times" story about this said participation dropped almost 70%. the kids throwing the food away and is defeetding the purpose. can you teach something in the or school or enforce something not happening at home? >> i think therein lies the problem and you can't start it in the high school. this is like sex education and talking to 17, 18-year-olds about responsible sex. it starts in preschool and kindergarten. if we don't get our handle on

good nutrition in school and teach the habits and then continue them, you know, in to the home, we have lost the battle. do i think school could be an island? it's a first step. the problem is nobody wants to change and i have talked to kids who have been hungry before and they said, look. don't tell me that an apple is better than a snickers bar. i get it's more nutritious and won't fill me up and they have a case. it's because we have taught them not to like it. what tastes better than french fries? >> nothing. >> nothing. nothing. so it's really rewiring the brain but if we save this generation of dying early, it is on parents' backs to make the changes whether the kids like it or not. that's tough love but that's where it starts. >> thank you so much. >> you bet, chris. >> great to have you on the program. that wraps up this hour. i'm chris janesing. thomas roberts is up next.

>> good morning to you. good morning, everybody. agenda next hour, minutes away from mitt romney's most important foreign policy speech of this campaign. on the heels of that solid debate performance, what is the leadership vision of romney on matters of the middle east or concerns of al qaeda reforming? the president and his team have one direct message. they say, bring it on. we have assembled a power panel. they'll all be here and how does romney's speech set the stage for the vice presidential debate this thursday between joe biden and paul ryan in kentucky? this is a must see hour coming up. rembrandt® deeply white™ 2 hour whitening kit is proven to quickly remove surface stains and deep stains in just two hours. [ female announcer ] rembrandt® deeply white™: whiten in just 2 hours. begins with back pain and a choice. take advil, and maybe have to take up to four in a day.

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good morning, everybody. i'm thomas roberts. developing news topping the news to. we are awaiting a major foreign policy address from mitt romney. scheduled to begin within just 20 minutes from now. with less than a month to go until the